I Was Stranded In A Foreign Country!

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“What the f^#%”, were my exact thoughts when I saw the news! I couldn’t believe it happened to me! I would have never imagined in a million years I would be stranded in a foreign country! It was also difficult to grasp that I couldn’t pick up the phone to call my parents or a friend for a ride home. 😪 After all, this is an island surrounded by water. Nevertheless, it was time to face the adversity and turn our lemons into the sweetest lemonade possible!

Booking Our Flights

My husband and I decided to take a few days off and travel to Iceland (everyone’s reaction: Icelannnnnnd?!). After watching many YouTube videos and having numerous conversations with colleagues, we were elated to book the trip and take on the adventure!

It was time to purchase the flight tickets. I’m very particular when purchasing tickets, and prefer to stay faaaaaar away from budget airlines. After entering the information, the search displayed ‘WOW air’, Iceland based airline. Not thinking much about it, I booked our roundtrip tickets and off we went!

Arriving In Iceland

The day of our flight, several WOW airline flights were canceled, but it didn’t affect ours. We assumed we were good to go (we were wrong), but keep reading chile! Once we were on the plane I knew when my knees were in the person’s neck in front me – I screwed us! 😩 The flight was a total of four and a half hours, and it turned out pretty good. We had finally arrived, and I was anxious to get in our rental car and start the day!

The first day in Iceland was great! With less than an hour of sleep, running off of adrenaline, we traveled the Iceland Ring Road, toured a few sights, and had the best fish and chips on the island! On the second day, we visited sites along the Golden Circle, which are much closer to the capital, Reykjavik. And then there was the third day…

By the third day, we were getting homesick, but we had a full day’s agenda ahead of us. We were up bright and early to get ready for the Blue Lagoon – a geothermal spa. The drive was approximately 45 minutes and was one of the worst driving experiences ever. We drove through blizzard-like conditions, I couldn’t see, and the low visibility made driving horrifying! We arrived safely at the Blue Lagoon, thank God! The overall experience was surreal and worth the money (we spent $200ish in total).

Sh^t Hits The Fan

Here is where shit hits the fan! Once we left Blue Lagoon, we headed to get lunch in Reykjavik. While eating my pizza, I was scrolling on Instagram and had a direct message from an Instagram friend. He stated, “Hey did you fly WOW air?”. Because of how random it was, my gut knew something was wrong. I instantly googled, ‘WOW airlines’ and there it was everywhere!

I couldn’t believe what I was reading and that our flight back home was canceled! CANCCCELED!

I lost my appetite (would you believe that?) and couldn’t stomach another slice of pizza. We quickly dipped and headed back to our hotel to process what was going on and what to do. According to WOW’s website, we were to call our credit card company to get a refund for the flight, then contact other airlines to ask for a rescue fare.

They Have No Compassion

I disputed the charge through my bank, which thankfully they approved. Next, we were to contact Icelandair for a ticket home. Icelandair was offering $100 flights to the US. I submitted my request and called the number to book my flight. I was on hold for an hour before the next representative accepted my call. Finally, I got through! Here’s how the conversation went:

Me: Hi, I was scheduled to leave Iceland tomorrow (Friday) on WOW air. I need to book a flight to Washington, DC, or any of the nearby cities you fly too.

Her: We don’t have anything to Washington, DC until Wednesday. We have a flight leaving for New York tomorrow for $1,000 per person in business class.

Me: 😐 Wait, what happened to the $100 flights? This is misleading!

Her: Ma’am all of the $100 flights are booked. The next flight with $100 fares is Wednesday.

Me: OK, well that’s unacceptable, I’ll have to call you back.

Of course there was a bit of a language barrier. I wasn’t frustrated because I knew God would come through as always. We decided to drive to the airport to speak with a representative face-to-face. The airport was approximately 45 minutes from the hotel. We arrived at the airport, and the Icelandair office closed at 5 PM. The time was 6 PM. 🙄 I was told to come back the following morning at 5:30 AM. At this point, I’m getting annoyed, it’s getting dark out, and I want to go home!

We left to go back to the hotel, and I decided to stop by the receptionist desk to ask, “With the circumstances what would the rate be if we needed to stay another night?”. The receptionist stated, “It would be the same as your current rate!”. Bruh!

Booking Our Flights Home

There were times I would have tickets in my queue then someone would quickly purchase them leaving me to search all over again. While searching on Expedia, my husband found a deal for a one-way flight to Tampa, Florida, leaving out on Friday at 5:30 PM. We had never been to Tampa, so it gave us something to look forward too. As he purchased the tickets, I searched for one-way tickets from Tampa to Washington, DC. We were finally going HOME!

Heading Back To The US

After spending most of Thursday finding a ticket home, we woke up early Friday morning to eat breakfast and pack up. We left Reykjavik and arrived around 11 AM at the airport (bay-bay, we weren’t missing this flight). Although we were going from one extreme (cold Iceland) to the next (hot Tampa), I could use the warm temperatures! Everything went smoothly, and we landed at 9 PM ET in Tampa!

Would I Go Back?

My choice in airlines had nothing to do with my overall experience in Iceland. Moving forward, I’ll be more vigilant when booking with foreign airlines. Nevertheless, this experience did show me how good we have it in the US. Had this happened in the US – we would receive a voucher, and the airline would put us in a hotel free of charge. Not in Iceland, money talks!🤑 Iceland is a beautiful country! If you love nature, it’s the perfect place to explore. As for me, I’ve been there, done that. ✌️

Thank you for reading! Comment below and let’s chat!

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